Workmen's advocate., 1887-02-12
The power of the boycott decreases

The power Ol the boycott decreases with the.incrcasing frequency of its ap- plication. Arbitration may tend to allay the contest, but it can only benefit bosses. The employer who realizes that circum- stances enable him to 'be victorious in the contest, will not submit to arbltra- ton in favor of the workingmen, The striking lahorers, who may be able to en- force their demands and yet submit to arbitration, can do so only to their dis advantage, because arbitration simply means that they shall retract part of their demands.
 All this proves that labor organizations of the old school will become more and more unable to fulfill their mission. With this inability the number of their members will also decrease.
 A strikingproof of this fact is furnished by England's trades unions.
 At the Trades Union Congress in Lon don, in 1874, over 1,OOO,0O0 members were represented, while ten years later, in 1884, only 800, ,OOo were represented.
 This is significant fact. It shows that the workingmen of England are losing confidence in their organizations, and proves, beyond doubt, that English trades unions, which have been m exist ence for centuries, have passed their zenith of power and ere cnii,riy unabie to SoIrc he Labor Question, wHhW the hUIt$ of HcT f0rmer afjrity: for the labor problem is more perpleXing in Eng land to-day than it ever was before. | < x x
 In the United States several attempts have been made to stamp organization as conspiracy. In December, 1886, a bill was passed in the Legislature of South Carlina, which declared every negro, who k a member of an organization, guilty of conspiracy, because such organizations may strike at the time of the cotton harvest, and the harvest may thus be spoiled. This law was to apply only to the negroes, but why can it not also be applied to all other wage-workers?
 What shall we do in the face of such facts; Shall we still regard trades unionism as the end of the labor move ment, or simply as a first step towards industrial freedom?
 We should simply look upon trades unionism as a means to greater end.
 Trades-unionism can never make the interests of capitalists and laborers identi- cal. Trades-unionism means the union of labor in contradistinction to that of employers. It means the continuance of the wage system and an endless struggle for the means of subsistence.
 But what is our rescue?
 ltr must changc our tactics and objpcts, We must no more beg for aims, but strike for all that belongs to Us
 We must no more wrangle with bosses, but proclaim ouI intention to abolish them
 The capitaIistic class must surrender their claim to despoil the workers un- conditionally
 The question is not of how much we sAall be robbed, but whether we shall permit ourselves to be robbed at all. We can never concede that which is really taken from Us by force, however much it may be yelled by law
 Such an object deserves the effort of of the noblest, and such an aim will give new life and new aspirations to labor organizations.
 70 reaiize HiS aim we must no lo0oer resort 10 strikes dl0up b,d ,re must strire ogoin coNtr~ gf the politjcm ,o,rer, and compel o'r eHcDtic$ by iow to smrende7. he1 WJ''A chtim 10 he yDo1uctS of ou. lubOr.